John Mercer Langston

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Mercer Langston

John Mercer Langston (born December 14, 1829 in Louisa County , Virginia , † November 15, 1897 in Washington, DC ) was a lawyer and politician from the United States . Alongside Frederick Douglass , he was one of the most famous and influential civil rights activists of the 19th century . He was the first African American to be elected to the United States House of Representatives for Virginia .

Langston was born the youngest son of the white plantation owner Ralph Quarles and the ascended former slave Lucy Langston. His mother was of Indian and black descent. After his parents died prematurely in 1834, the fortune allowed him to attend school in Oberlin , Ohio . In 1849 he graduated from college and started working as a lawyer in that town. In 1864 he became president of the National Equal Rights League . During the civil war he recruited black soldiers for the troops of the northern states. From 1877 to 1885 he served as the American envoy to Haiti , where he also followed an African American with Ebenezer Bassett .

In 1888 Langston ran as Republican for the House of Representatives and appealed to the black population of Virginia to elect him because of his parentage. Langston won the election, but was also rejected by his own party. As the leader of blacks, Langston was known for frequent changes of opinion. In the 1870s he called on blacks to leave the south to escape oppression. He later assumed that as prosperity and education increased, tensions between blacks and whites would ease.

The city of Langston , Oklahoma is named after him.

See also

Web links

Commons : John Mercer Langston  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Langston, John Mercer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American civil rights activist, lawyer, and politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 14, 1829
PLACE OF BIRTH Louisa County , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1897
Place of death Washington, DC